What’s a luthier? I didn’t know until we chatted with luthier (and satisfied IPEVO customer) Wesley Brandt! A luthier is a maker or repairer of stringed instruments, such as guitars. Wesley uses hand tools, traditional techniques, and fine woods to craft guitars, viols, and mandolins. Please check out his website, brandtguitars.com, for a window into this very interesting world.

Anyhow, Wesley has been using the Point 2 View USB Document Camera in a truly creative way we never could have expected. Often, the nature of Wesley’s repair work requires him to do intricate work inside the instrument itself. Luthiers usually employ mirrors—much like the mirror wand a dentist uses—to see their work inside the instrument. However, sometimes Wesley has to put his entire hand (if not arm!) inside the sound-hole of the guitar, and the mirror is just not able to be used. In these cases, the Point 2 View has been hired for the job.

Wesley explained how he is able to utilize the Point 2 View to help in these extremely tight spaces: “To position the camera, I use the laptop clip and mount a rare earth disc magnet on it, and then slip it inside the sound-hole. I then use another magnet outside the guitar (both protected with adhesive felt so they don’t damage the guitar). This setup holds the camera securely while also allowing me to aim it.”

Wesley supplied a picture of his handiwork taken with the Point 2 View, below. This picture shows the bottom inside of a guitar. As you can see, Wesley had to glue a piece of cloth over a damaged area he repaired in order to reinforce it. The slim, compact camera body was a perfect size to insert into the sound-hole to allow Wesley to view the area while working. And the included universal laptop clip also came in handy, which Wesley further innovated with strong magnets.

Taken by Wesley Brandt with Point 2 View

There is even more that Wesley has planned for the Point 2 View. He intends to mount a small mirror on the camera body so that he can view angles of up to 90 degrees.

“I never could have done as clean of work as I did without the Point 2 View camera,” added Wesley. “The Point 2 View’s macro mode allowed me to focus on extremely fine details within the guitar body. I think this method will be of great interest to my fellow luthiers.”

Thanks very much, Wesley. This is another great idea for the Point 2 View that was developed by one of our enterprising customers.

* Prices are subject to change, please visit www.ipevo.com for the latest price infomation.* Find more tips and stories about P2V at www.ipevo.com/p2v.

We are particularly pleased to bring you this story of another real-world application of IPEVO’s Point 2 View USB Document Camera. Recently, we had the opportunity to chat with Eric, a Police Surveillance Specialist with the Los Angeles Police Department. Eric found a use for the Point 2 View we could never have anticipated.

Among other duties, Eric is tasked with examining cell phones for use in ongoing investigations and court cases. In addition to taking closeup pictures of the phone itself, specialists must also examine and record information contained on the phone. While some cell phones have ways to send certain types of data to the computer, often specialists like Eric have to literally take pictures of the cell phone screen itself displaying texts or call histories or other information. And that’s where the Point 2 View comes in.

“There are a few products on the market that cell phone examiners are stuck with trying to capture these small, low-light screens,” said Eric. “I was introduced to the Point 2 View by a fellow examiner, and I’ve found the camera to be a great tool for the work I do, and a significant improvement over competing products.”

And what features of the Point 2 View impressed Eric?

“A dim screen in a semi-darkened room makes for a tough subject to photograph,” Eric explained. “The Point 2 View’s high resolution and good performance in low-light situations make it an ideal camera for this situation. I’ve been impressed with the functionality of the Point 2 View, particularly its ability to focus well and easily for clear pictures.”

It’s great to learn the Point 2 View is making a difference, however small, in something as important as law enforcement. Thanks for sharing your story, Eric! Who knows what other uses our savvy customers will find for the Point 2 View? Keep checking in to find out.

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Just wanted to give you a quick “Web 2.0” update. You know about the blog (obviously!), and you probably know about IPEVO’s Twitter account, which is updated by none other than the big boss himself, CEO Royce Hong. See the blue Twitter bird on the right sidebar there? Click to the right of that happy bird to visit Royce’s Twitter page.

Right above the Twitter link is a relatively new feature, an embedded YouTube video. We definitely appreciate the many vloggers and tech enthusiasts who have decided to review and showcase IPEVO products by posting a video to YouTube, and recently we decided that IPEVO should carve out its own little slice of the YouTube universe in order to highlight some of our favorite videos and supply a few of our own. So (fanfare, please), I’m proud to announce the YouTube IPEVO channel!

Like I said, we hope to grow the IPEVOINC channel into a convenient little storehouse of the best and most insightful reviews of our products, the kind of videos that inform, entertain, and provide some wisdom about all the cool things our gear is capable of. If you’ve done an IPEVO-related video, we’d love to see it, and maybe we can add it to our favorites: just drop us a line, here or on YouTube.

One of the first videos we uploaded is an unboxing of our newest release, the Point 2 View USB Camera (P2V)! (More fanfare, please.) The P2V has an amazing little stand that gives you a ton of options as far as camera perspective, and that’s just the proverbial tip of the iceberg as far as what this camera can do. Visit the IPEVOINC channel to check out the brief unboxing video and see the P2V in all its YouTube glory.

* Prices are subject to change, please visit www.ipevo.com for the latest price infomation.* Find more tips and stories about P2V at www.ipevo.com/p2v.